City employee arrested, accused of stealing $45,000 tractor

Baton Rouge Police arrested a city employee accused of stealing a brand new tractor trailer on Tuesday.

Officers arrested 34-year-old Watson Williams, III as he returned to work at the Department of Public Works this afternoon.

Williams is suspected of stealing a tractor that was found in East Feliciana Parish and is estimated to be worth about $45,000.

DPW officials say they take this and all employee arrests very seriously because they involve the public's money.

"I take tax dollars very seriously," DPW Director David Guillory said. "We are paid with tax dollars, the equipment we buy is used with tax dollars. And we try to represent the citizens of the parish in everything we do, and anytime something like this happens it leaves a black eye."